by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group
Telecom war take its first toll
* Midnight coup at Sanchar Bhavan
* J S Deepak shunted out
Harish Gupta
New Delhi, March 2
A bitter corporate battle in the telecom sector between Reliance Jio and rival telecom operators seems to have taken its first toll. In a late evening order, the Prime Minister shunted out Chairman Telecom Commission & Secretary Telecom J S Deepak and sent him to the Commerce Ministry as OSD. Three months later, Deepak will go to Geneva to take over as India’s Ambassador at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Normally, the posting at Geneva is for three year period as it requires tough negotiations and hard bargaining at the world forum. The posting at Geneva had always been there for three years. A careful reading of the transfer order reveals that Deepak will remain in Geneva for a period of 14 months only. It seems the government was in such a tearing hurry to show him the door that it did not wait for his return from a telecom conference abroad. Deepak was attending the World Mobile Conference at Barcelona when the marching orders out of Sanchar Bhawan were issued.
Surprisingly, the government did not name Deepak’s successor at the Telecom Commission which is now headless. The Telecom Ministry doesn’t have a secretary either.
It seems the PMO was angry with Deepak when the Telecom Commission, the highest decision-making body for the sector, wrote to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) urgently review its tariff orders and directions. The Telecom Commission met on February 23 and issued the letter and also made it public.
The letter assumes significance in the backdrop of bitter battle between Reliance Jio and other operators like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular.
Since the launch of its free voice and data services in September 2016, Reliance Jio forced incumbents Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular to bring down tariffs leading to a price war in the industry.
The tariff war, according to DoT, has adversely impacted government’s collections from Rs 3975 crore in the first quarter of FY17 to Rs 3584 crore in Q2, and further down to Rs 3186 crore in the quarter ended December 31, 2016.
The main reason for the downward trend appears to be a tariff war in the industry triggered by free promotional offers, the DoT secretary said. However, the letter did not name any of the companies.
What made government angry was that when the matter was before the superior judiciary as Vodafone and other players had moved Delhi High Court alleging that TRAI had failed to prohibit violation of its tariff orders, why the DOT jumped the gun.
